Weekend Beercast: Haute Wheels and a Karbach Barn Burner

Houstonians have two opportunities this weekend to get outdoors and celebrate good beer and local industry: a food truck festival featuring some of the city’s top mobile chefs and a beer party at the popular Karbach Brewing.

On Saturday and Sunday, St. John’s Fire, Stick It and more than 30 other local food trucks will gather at the Houston Community College Southwest campus at 5601 W. Loop South for the third annual Haute Wheels Houston.

I was there both days last year and, in addition to food and live music, there was plenty of good beer available to wash down the tacos, fried escargot poppers and other imaginative offerings from these popular restaurants on wheels.

The H-E-B-sponsored beer garden this year features local breweries Karbach and Saint Arnold, Real Ale from the Texas Hill Country and Alaksan, Blue Moon and Leinenkugel’s.

I’ll be there again this year, both days, signing copies of “Houston Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Bayou City,” the book I wrote chronicling the rise, fall and re-emergence of locally owned beer. Look for me at the VIP area; if you don’t have a VIP ticket, flag me down over the fence.

DETAILS

What: Haute Wheels Houston, a fair highlighting the city’s food trucks. Entertainment includes live music by Craig Kinsey, Electric Attitude and four other bands.

When: Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. each day.

Where: Houston Community College Southwest campus at 5601 W. Loop South

After attending Oktoberfest at Karbach Brewing Co. last fall, I find it easy to recommend this Saturday’s party for the Houston brewery’s current seasonal, Barn Burner Saison. The Karbach crew knows how to put on a party. Plus, the promotional photo above is awesome. The man with the grin is brewmaster Eric Warner.

If you haven’t made it to one of the weekly tours or happy hours at the brewery, 2032 Karbach St., you don’t need a better excuse. Look for Warner, a brewer of national renown when he arrived in Houston nearly two years ago. He’s also a guy who always seems to make time to stop and talk about beer with visitors. A conversation with him will make trying his beers even better.

DETAILS

What: Good Old Fashioned Barn Burner, a Karbach Brewing party with beer, food and live music — plus a souvenir glass to prove you there.